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Microwaves in the cold war: the Moscow embassy study and its interpretation. Review of a retrospective cohort study.

No Effects Found

Elwood JM. · 2012

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Cold War microwave surveillance of US embassy staff found no health effects at exposure levels similar to today's cell towers.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers analyzed the health records of US embassy staff in Moscow who were exposed to microwave radiation (2.5-4.0 GHz) from 1953-1976, comparing them to staff at other Eastern European embassies. The study found no adverse health effects from the microwave exposure, which was at levels similar to or higher than current cell phone tower emissions. This Cold War incident provides unique long-term data on radiofrequency exposure effects in humans.

Study Details

An extensive study investigated the health of embassy staff and their families, comparing Moscow embassy staff with staff in other Eastern European US embassies. The resulting large report has never been published in peer reviewed literature.

The original report and other published comments or extracts from the report were reviewed.

The extensive study reports on mortality and morbidity, recorded on medical records and by regular e...

The conclusions of the original report are supported. Contrary conclusions given in some other reports are due to misinterpretation of the results.

Cite This Study
Elwood JM. (2012). Microwaves in the cold war: the Moscow embassy study and its interpretation. Review of a retrospective cohort study. Environ Health. 11(1):85, 2012.
Show BibTeX
@article{jm._2012_microwaves_in_the_cold_3013,
  author = {Elwood JM.},
  title = {Microwaves in the cold war: the Moscow embassy study and its interpretation. Review of a retrospective cohort study.},
  year = {2012},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23151144/},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

Researchers analyzed the health records of US embassy staff in Moscow who were exposed to microwave radiation (2.5-4.0 GHz) from 1953-1976, comparing them to staff at other Eastern European embassies. The study found no adverse health effects from the microwave exposure, which was at levels similar to or higher than current cell phone tower emissions. This Cold War incident provides unique long-term data on radiofrequency exposure effects in humans.